Money, Power, Glory
by Mary and Sue
Summary: When the sisters Maya and Ayanna from Braavos came to King's Landing with their parents, they had no idea that they would be staying for quite some time. Watch as they make friends and foes trying to protect their loved ones.
1. Prologue

Prologue

"Maya! Stop dreaming!" my sister Ayanna called. I had watched our servants carry our last boxes on board of the ship. What would Westeros be like? It would surely be interesting to get to know a different culture. I had to admit that I didn't know much about the continent across the Narrow Sea. My parents had told me a thing or two, but only facts that mattered for merchants, for example that they had very good wine in Dorne and the Arbor. I had also heard the sailors talk about the Lannisters who always pay their debts and the people in the North that pray to trees.

"Are you sure you didn't forget anything?" Ayanna wanted to know.

"Yes, I am. What about you? You are the one who would always forget everything." I replied.

"Pretty sure." My little sister grinned at me. Then, for a moment, she looked thoughtful, as if she was remembering something. Had she forgotten something? Then she grinned again and said, "I tricked you, didn't I?" "You are so childish." I complained. She could be so annoying, never taking anything seriously. "That's because I am the younger one and you are my very responsible and mature older sister." She shrugged.

Right then, our mother joined our conversation, complaining that father was being late. He probably was still negotiating with the Iron Bank. That was the reason why we went to Westeros after all, to deal with their debts. We were going south to King's Landing, their capital. We were going to live in the royal court of Robert of the House Baratheon the first of His Name, King of the Andals and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm. Why did they have such long titles anyway? We in Braavos didn't bother with such trivialities.

"Oh, look, there is Syrio!" Ayanna exclaimed excitedly. He was a water dancer who would accompany us to King's Landing. As children, we had had some dancing lessons with him and he had stayed close to our family ever since. We said "Valar morghulis" to each other and talked while waiting for father to arrive. Which he did. In the nick of time, as he always did.

"What took you so long?" mother wanted to know. She was not the most patient of all people. "I apologize for being so late, but you know how this business works. It is a miracle that these discussions have come to an end at all." Father tried to explain.

Then we went on board and departed at last. We watched as the Titan of Braavos grew smaller and smaller. I had no idea I would not get to see it again for quite some time.


	2. West Coast

1\. West Coast

"They are definitely missing a Titan. It would be much more impressive that way." I mused.

"Not everyone can have a Titan. We don't have great castles. There, look at the Red Keep!" My sister disagreed. After our ship had dropped anchor in King's Landing we went ashore and were greeted by a tall man with broad shoulders and a short beard. His hair was almost non-existent. He had a serious expression on his face that could make you want to go aboard again.

"Welcome to King's Landing, Jeremy Valbuena. I'm Stannis Baratheon, Master of ships in the King's Small Council. This is your family, I presume?" He introduced himself. So this had to be King Robert's brother.

"Valar morghulis, Lord Stannis. This is my wife Elysa and my daughters Maya and Ayanna." Our father said.

"I will escort you to the Red Keep. Please follow me." Well, apparently he wasn't a man of many words. I felt so welcome.

He led us to three litters that would take us to our destination. In the meantime we, my sister and I, "talked" about Lord Stannis.

"They really could have sent someone…less stiff to pick us up, don't you think so?" I addressed Ayanna.

"That would've been very thoughtful. He's incredibly boring." She agreed.

We watched as the streets of the city passed by. It was crowded, loud and smelly. Braavos with its many canals provided fresher air. Back home, I had never really appreciated this. We had to stop multiple times because there was no space for us to move forward since merchants and peasants blocked our way. Finally we arrived at the Red Keep. I regretted saying that King's Landing was not impressive since this fortress surely was. Its thick walls seemed impregnable and it had a lot of towers of different shapes. There were many people who seemed to be waiting for us. Well, they knew better than to let the Iron Bank wait. I loved it. We got out of the litters and started the same procedure as with Lord Stannis.

We knelt before King Robert, a man whose red cheeks spoke of a frequent consumption of wine but otherwise he seemed to be more likeable than his brother. Something I could not say of the Queen, Cersei Baratheon, who was beautiful on the outside but had cold eyes. They resembled her personality, I feared. Apparently, they had three children even if they didn't look like their father at all. With their golden hair and emerald green eyes they practically screamed "Lannister". The oldest one, Prince Joffrey, seemed to be about as old as me. Princess Myrcella and Prince Tommen were two darling children, sweeter than honey. The King's youngest brother, Lord Renly, was extraordinarily well dressed for a man and quite good looking. Then we were introduced to the other members of the Small Council. The first one was Lord Jon Arryn, Hand of the King, a very nice elderly man. Then, there was Lord Varys, a calm and polite man with a bald head.

Grand Maester Pycelle was a very old and feeble man, who wore a heavy chain with many links around his neck. Lord Baelish had a shady aura. That polite smile could not fool me. The last two men belonged, again, to House Lannister. There was the Queen's father Lord Tywin, a very serious and awe-inspiring man. The other man was the Queen's little brother, in every sense of the word. It was the first dwarf of a noble house that I had ever seen. Usually, they performed tricks for the crowd in the streets of Braavos.

After the introduction, we were escorted to our chambers. The room was amply furnished and the windows faced the sea. It was a beautiful view. Yes, I could definitely spend some time here. There was a knock on the door. It was my sister who had taken up residence in the chamber next door.

"So, what do you think of all these people?" my sister promptly asked while sitting down.

"Well, we met many people today. With whom do you want to start?" I asked in return as a servant filled my cup.

"What about the Queen?" she suggested.

"She didn't seem too thrilled by our arrival." I wondered aloud.

"Maybe it was just her usual expression. After all we've already met Lord Stannis. And to me this Lord Tywin has the same problem." She stated.

"He's her father after all. Maybe it's a family thing. But then we two wouldn't be related."

"Maybe Lord Tyrion isn't related to them either. He seemed nice."

"I'm a little creeped out about this Lord Baelish. He doesn't seem quite trustworthy even if this is what he's aiming at." I told my sister what I thought about this particular member of the Small Council.

"What do you think about Prince Joffrey? There's something off about him I can't quite put my finger on."

"Do you think? He seemed harmless to me, though I do not doubt that he's most likely a spoilt little brat." That sounded rather harsh I know but children in this position tended to think they were superior to other people.

"His siblings seemed nice, though." Ayanna added. "Maybe it's just because he's the firstborn."

"You know that this is not the premise for such behavior. Look at me, I'm not like that."

"Yes, but you are not the Prince, are you?"

"Makes sense." I had to admit. "Does King Robert look like a true King to you?"

"Well… maybe he was trying to make us feel welcome, unlike his brother. And perhaps he likes wine. A lot of people do."

"Indeed, but shouldn't he prove the power of Westeros to "foreigners"? Show us that he's capable of ruling the Seven Kingdoms after the downfall of the Targaryen dynasty?"

"You are talking about politics again. I thought we were talking about people?" My sister complained.

"These two aspects are inseparable. You have to know the people if you want to try to predict how they'll act. As heir of our fortune and trading company not to mention our connections to the Iron Bank, I have to consider such things."

"You are not even married yet!"

"And why does that matter? The fact that I will inherit everything and my parents don't want to rely solely on their possible son-in-law spared me from being married off so far."

"You are being boring again. Stop talking about business. Now it's sister time!"

There was another knock on the door interrupting our "sister time" as Ayanna had phrased it. It was our mother.

"There'll be a feast tonight in our honor. It'll start in two hours. Make sure you are ready. We expect only your best behavior." Elysa instructed us.

"Yes, mother." We responded in unison. We were really good at this.


End file.
